Today we spent the majority of the day travelling from Kangaroo Island to Adelaide, from Adelaide to Alice Springs, and then from Alice Springs to Ayers Rock. We were up early to drive from the Southern Ocean Lodge to the airport in Kingscote. We took a privately chartered twin propeller engine airplane from Kingscote to Adelaide, where we transferred to a larger terminal to board a standard commercial passenger jet for Alice Springs. The flight from Alice Springs to Ayers Rock proved to be the most interesting, as we could look out the window and gaze upon the red, flat desert below us.
Once we landed, a representative of Longitude 131 greeted us and drove us from the Ayers Rock airport to the hotel. We arrived, took a short rest, and gathered ourselves for our night out in the desert. As we drove to Uluru, we gained some context. The Australian government returned the land to the Aboriginal people of the area, the Anangu, in 1985. Uluru has extreme cultural significance to these people, and because of the way their culture works, we don’t know exactly why. The information is actually sacred to their culture and not shared with outsiders.
We first visited an area for a spectacular scenic view of Uluru, watching the changing of the colors on the rock as the sun set. My words can’t really do it justice, so hopefully my pictures can. After the sunset, we left to enjoy dinner underneath the light of the stars. I was dumbfounded by how bright the stars make the night sky in the Northern Territory. With no light pollution, we were able to see many constellations, including, Scorpio, the Northern Cross, Alpha and Beta Centauri, and the Sagittarius Arm of the Milky Way! This was such an awe-inspiring, grounding, and humbling experience for me. Not only to be astounded by all the amazing things on this planet, but also to witness that kind of beautiful night sky is something I’ll never forget.
While I’ve not even spent a day here, from what I’ve gleaned so far, there are some serious policies and practices in place here to preserve the land the way the Aboriginal people deem necessary for their culture. The treatment of the native inhabitants of the land in the United States and Australia seems to be very similar, however, I was impressed with the Australian government’s return of the land to its original dwellers. In this regard, the United States and its citizens can learn how to better respect their predecessors.
Once we landed, a representative of Longitude 131 greeted us and drove us from the Ayers Rock airport to the hotel. We arrived, took a short rest, and gathered ourselves for our night out in the desert. As we drove to Uluru, we gained some context. The Australian government returned the land to the Aboriginal people of the area, the Anangu, in 1985. Uluru has extreme cultural significance to these people, and because of the way their culture works, we don’t know exactly why. The information is actually sacred to their culture and not shared with outsiders.
We first visited an area for a spectacular scenic view of Uluru, watching the changing of the colors on the rock as the sun set. My words can’t really do it justice, so hopefully my pictures can. After the sunset, we left to enjoy dinner underneath the light of the stars. I was dumbfounded by how bright the stars make the night sky in the Northern Territory. With no light pollution, we were able to see many constellations, including, Scorpio, the Northern Cross, Alpha and Beta Centauri, and the Sagittarius Arm of the Milky Way! This was such an awe-inspiring, grounding, and humbling experience for me. Not only to be astounded by all the amazing things on this planet, but also to witness that kind of beautiful night sky is something I’ll never forget.
While I’ve not even spent a day here, from what I’ve gleaned so far, there are some serious policies and practices in place here to preserve the land the way the Aboriginal people deem necessary for their culture. The treatment of the native inhabitants of the land in the United States and Australia seems to be very similar, however, I was impressed with the Australian government’s return of the land to its original dwellers. In this regard, the United States and its citizens can learn how to better respect their predecessors.